Army chief Gen VK Singh writes to PM, warns of security risk to India

[asianobserve]

India's Military Weaknesses Revealed in Army Chief's Leaked Letter

By Agence France-Presse on Wednesday, March 28th, 2012


India's tank fleet lacks ammunition, its air defences are "97 percent obsolete" and its elite forces lack essential arms, the country's army chief wrote in an explosive letter leaked Wednesday.

The letter to the prime minister dated March 12, widely reported by the Indian media, lists the shortcomings of the armed forces in embarrassing detail in a blow to the government and the Asian giant's military prestige.

Its publication also ups the stakes in a public battle between army chief General V.K. Singh and the government which began with a dispute over Singh's retirement earlier this year.

"The state of the major (fighting) arms i.e. mechanised forces, artillery, air defence, infantry and special forces, as well as the engineers and signals, is indeed alarming," Singh wrote in the letter, DNA newspaper reported.

The army's entire tank fleet is "devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks", while the air defence system is "97% obsolete and it doesn't give the deemed confidence to protect"¦ from the air," he wrote, according to DNA.

The infantry is crippled with "deficiencies" and lacks night fighting equipment, while the elite special forces are "woefully short" of "essential weapons".

Singh also told The Hindu newspaper this week that he had informed Defence Minister A.K Antony of a $2.8 million bribe offered to him in 2010, leading to embarrassing questions as to why the government did not order an enquiry.

Antony told parliament on Wednesday that he was aware of the letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and he would reply appropriately.


Read more: Army Chief's leaked letter reveals India's military weaknesses | Defense & Security News at DefenceTalk

 

[GUNS-N- ROSES]

ithere are two aspects of this story. first how did the letter get leaked. this should be investigated thoroughly. a letter of such nature is considered "top secret". how in the world can a "top secret" letter get leaked. in my opinion it was deliberately leaked. this should be investigated.

secondly and most importantly why did such a situation come about in first place where the army is short of ammunition and suffering cecause of obsolescence. surely the general must have exhausted all options before writing to PM. it is clear that some one is not playing ball in MoD. its time to boot out some Joint secretaries and additional secretaries in MoD.

 

[Anshu Attri]

देश की सुरक्षा : दम तोड़ते हथियार

 

[thakur_ritesh]

Was the leak a deliberate ploy by the bureaucracy at MoD to put the spotlight on General and project him in a rather poor light?

It is rare in this country that someone from the forces can dare challenge the system that we have, and there remains no doubt that the bureaucracy wants to end the General's career in the most humiliating manner possible. For them, the General does need to be sacked, their best revenge, but I doubt UPA will bite the bullet.

When India needed additional 40 Su30s on top of 190 during UPA I and the letter written to the PM was leaked, which contained details on how poorly guarded a country we are, no one was really concerned as to why the leak was made, this time the tone of response is very different.

Possibly has to do something with the 14cr bribe allegation, could this episode also involve the MoD bureaucracy, I suspect, yes!

 

[sob]

This was not the first letter from the COAS to the Govt. Seems that his earlier efforts had not made an iota of difference to the Government.

Gen waved red flags many times on tank ammo, air defence - Indian Express[/v]

Army Chief General V K Singh's letter to the Prime Minister listing out critical deficiencies in ammunition and equipment should not come as a surprise to the government. For, he has, in the past two years, red-flagged shortages on several occasions, not only to the defence minister but also to the top bureaucracy within the ministry.

And fools like Laloo are demanding that the chief be sacked.

Will Saint Anthony stand up and inform to the country what steps have been taken to address the issues the COAS has been raising for 2 years now.

And all those idiots linking the age row with the letters just plain shut up.

 

[Singh]

Okay Gen Singh has escalated the issue, now he has sent another letter asking CBI to investigate Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag of the 3rd Corps, and other army officers including a retired army chief.

 

[nitesh]

A sting in the general's tale | Deccan Chronicle

It is hard to say when it is that the military stopped being the paragon of propriety in a social milieu increasingly bereft of basic values that people once saw reflected in the men in olive green (or in Air Force blue and Navy white), such as honour and honesty. There are still many officers of the old school for whom military is a career, yes, but also an orderly world of do's and don'ts.

There have been service chiefs who after demitting office rode bicycles because that's all they could afford (Adm. R.L. Periera), or repaired without fuss to small, apartments because anything grander their pensions wouldn't allow (Adm. Vishnu Bhagwat). But the officer cohorts that produced a Periera or a Bhagwat also threw up service chiefs — no names, please, they have law on their side! — verily Kubla Khans who have built pleasure domes, allegedly on a service chief's salary and pension.

The Chief of Army Staff, Gen. V.K. Singh, has blown the lid off the comfortable milieu senior military brass cocoon themselves in, where every whim quite literally is a command, revealing just how dirty military life has become, how much corruption has seeped into cantonment life. Of course, there were always officers from the support arms in the Army — the service corps and ordnance corps — who were known for accumulating wealth at the exchequer's expense. Gen. Singh actually hinted at a conspiracy of Rs 14 crores being dangled as bait by retired officers he identifies as "the Adarsh lobby" in the hopes of implicating him in a bribery scandal. What the Army Chief's revelations have done is loosening the dirt lining the military acquisitions system, permitting the muck and the scum to float to the top. Now all the rumours one heard about payouts to senior officers over the years can be freely aired.

Over time, one has heard hearsay accounts, for instance, of a system of "under the table" payments by consortia of contractors to officers assuming the highest commands. Thus, an appointee to an Army commander's post was richer, one was told a decade back, by Rs 3-4 crores. Today the sum may be a multiple of this figure. It's not clear, however, whether this is a one-time booty or recurring prize-money. The trouble is these sorts of payoffs have come to be viewed by many in Army circles as perquisites. In like vein, pelf at lower level is tolerated as an "equalisation" measure relative to politicians and civil servants who routinely siphon off public funds.

The rot is wide and deep and spreading fast. What Gen. Singh has put his finger on are the vendors, mostly foreign, of weapon systems, spares and service support either directly or through Defence Public Sector factories, involved in assembling imported systems or licensed production, who prop up this system of corruption. With the expenditure on acquisitions rocketing, so have the competitive stakes for foreign Companies, DPSUs (Defence Public Sector Undertaking), and Indian private firms entering the defence business. Consequently, more and more officers up and down the military acquisitions line — in the weapons and quality control directorates, units tasked with testing and short-listing, and in price negotiation committees — are tempted, and many succumb.

The Congress government's initial response was remarkable for its insouciance and near indifference — the Army Chief should have lodged an FIR. Par for the course, one supposes, for a political party that during its long years in office first perfected and then institutionalised corruption. Defence minister A.K. Antony defended himself in Parliament saying Gen. Singh informed him about the attempted bribery over 16 months ago all right but was remiss in not following up with a written complaint without which, the minister lamented, he couldn't proceed. Why does that ring false?

For one thing because Mr Antony has turned his programme to root out corruption into a fetish, and someone so concerned with cleansing his ministry surely should not have stood on formalities. In the event, he neither reminded the Army Chief to send his charge in writing nor ordered an investigation, which he could have done. Instead, he waited until now when the story broke and the leads may have gone cold, to bring the CBI into the picture. Was this Mr Antony's Plan B if all this ever came to light?

In the wake of a tsunami of wrongs in the military, it is time to initiate two major reforms before it is too late. One is to institute "deep selection" of service chiefs — that is, all lieutenant general-rank officers completing two years in that rank be eligible for consideration. This widening of the selection pool will at once weed out those who have advanced in their careers with only seniority to recommend them, leading to just too many duds as service chiefs. This will also incentivise an entire cohort to strengthen their records with genuine achievements rather than coasting in their last few tenures, and prevent "succession planning" by unscrupulous former Army Chiefs as has happened in the case of the designated successor to Gen. Singh.

The other measure is to routinely do thorough background checks of not just the candidates for appointments to corps commander level up, but also their immediate families. It will prevent persons from becoming Army Chiefs, like the one who not too long ago held this post and was known for shedding tears usually for the camera, adorning his golf cart with the four stars of his rank, and deploying a large contingent of soldiers from his parent infantry unit at his residence to help run his wife's textile fashions and export business. With such a man in the chief's saddle, what message would have been conveyed to military officers except "misuse your position to the max"?

The writer is a professor at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.

 

[sob]

This was in today's Indian Express a special Op-Ed piece by Jaswant Singh on the current mess.

Governance, please - Indian Express

Confused Defence Ministry: stumbling statecraft, security imperilled

It is a long article but I would suggest that the interested members read it fully. I cannot post the highlights as it would not present the complete picture.

 

[Ray]

Okay Gen Singh has escalated the issue, now he has sent another letter asking CBI to investigate Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag of the 3rd Corps, and other army officers including a retired army chief.

Now starts the fun and games.

The retired Chief would surely be Deepak. He deserves to be investigated. Lt Gen Panag was investigating Kapoor's thievery when it was stopped by the Govt and Panag got sent to ARTRAC.

I wonder who is the Suhag.

 

[Ray]

This was in today's Indian Express a special Op-Ed piece by Jaswant Singh on the current mess.

Governance, please - Indian Express



It is a long article but I would suggest that the interested members read it fully. I cannot post the highlights as it would not present the complete picture.

A very fair article and thoroughly gentleman like.

He has not spared the COAS either.

I like this:

Believe me, my good sirs, the nation is weary of your "good nature," we crave for "good governance." Can you now, please, for a change do just that?

 

[Daredevil]

Army Chief General VK Singh brings out TMC MP's letter alleging scam


New Delhi: Yet another corruption allegation has been brought to light by Army Chief General VK Singh. National daily 'The Indian Express' has reported that General VK Singh has now sent a letter written by Trinamool MP Ambika Banerjee, which calls for a probe against Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The letter was written in May 2011, where the MP alleged 'procurement scams' in the Special Frontier Force, when Lt Gen Dalbir Singh was its Inspector General.

Ambika Banerjee, however, said that he wrote the letter to the Prime Minister and not the Army Chief. ""I wrote several letters to the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister on corruption in the Army, unfortunately no action was taken. I wrote the letters a year back," Banerjee said.

The SFF is under the administrative control of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). Lt General Dalbir Singh currently commands the Dimapur-based 3 Corps and is interestingly third in line to be Army Chief.

The MP has alleged pay-offs for the purchase of night-vision devices, communication systems, weapons as well as parachutes. The CBI has confirmed that it has received the letter written by Ambika Banerjee.

It comes at a time when the CBI is already probing bribery allegations by General VK Singh claiming that he was offered a bribe for clearing sub-standard vehicles for the Army. It also come amidst the leak of a letter written by the Army Chief to the Prime Minister's Office claiming shortcomings in defence preparedness.

Sources say the government may keep quiet till March 30 till Defence Minister AK Antony gets more proof. Sources also say that the government may ask the General to go on leave rather than sack him.

With one allegation after the other, pressure is now growing on the Prime Minister to intervene. Sources say Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will speak to some Opposition leaders to discuss on issue. According to sources AK Antony, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi want to wait and watch how others respond.

 

[Daredevil]

Now things are getting murky day by day but I think a good understanding emerges out about the kind of corruption is happening at higher levels of Army in cahoots with MoD.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

Army chief tends to agree, news flash on ToI:

Army chief Gen VK Singh calls the leaking of his letter written to PM an act of high treason. Gen Singh says his letter was leaked to tarnish his reputation

If Lalu Yadav is in the front asking for General's resignation, chances remain very high that he got a nod to do the act from congress HC.

 

[Daredevil]

It seems the so called 'saint' Raksha Mantri is the big f--up in all of these procurements

Gen waved red flags many times on tank ammo, air defence

Army Chief General V K Singh's letter to the Prime Minister listing out critical deficiencies in ammunition and equipment should not come as a surprise to the government. For, he has, in the past two years, red-flagged shortages on several occasions, not only to the defence minister but also to the top bureaucracy within the ministry.

In fact, in his March 12 letter to the PM, Gen. Singh reiterated his view on the alarming expansion of the Chinese military, pointing out that the creation of two new Army divisions for the North-East are stuck in the finance ministry and that the Army's war-fighting capabilities are "seriously impaired".

He had echoed this in a letter to Defence Minister A K Antony in February in which he had said that the war-waging capability of the Army had been "seriously degraded" with the government dragging its feet on critical procurements and policy measures. The three most critical shortages

Armoured Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS): The special tank ammunition is needed to disable enemy armour. The shell works on the principle of using a hardened sabot that discards itself as soon as it hits armour and pushes in a titanium projectile that disables the enemy tank. This technology is not available with India.

With force levels of this shell, which is the mainstay anti-tank ammunition of the Army and has seen service even in the 1971 war, coming down to below 10000 — a number hopelessly inadequate for the 3,000 odd tanks that are available at any time for combat — the Army officially conveyed to the government in August 2011 that its war reserves had fallen below critical levels.

The dip occurred as foreign orders were not placed because the ammunition was planned to be produced in India under a partnership with Israeli firm IMI. However, after dealings with the firm were put on hold in June 2009, the project got stalled.

When the only other source, a Russian entity, was approached to place and order for 60,000 rounds, the price quoted was almost 800 percent higher than usual. Only after the Army pursued the case, has an agreement been finally firmed up under which 30,000 rounds will be imported directly from Russia to meet immediate requirements while 60,000 will be produced in India.

Artillery: With most purchases not coming through as many artillery-producing companies were blacklisted by the Ministry, the Army tried to push through the case of procuring 150 of the M777 ultra-light howitzers from the US. During the trials, the gun did not meet the original requirements drawn up by the Army. Even when the Army offered to amend its requirements in August 2011 to allow the procurement, the Defence Ministry did not approve.

The Army is now left with little choice. As per the Army policy, new generation artillery should be of the 52-calibre grade to give it extended range but most manufacturers who have such technology — Rhienmetall, Denel, Soltam and Singapore Technologies — are not allowed to sell it in India. Result: No new artillery gun has been procured in over two decades.

Air Defence: Last year, the Army chief told the MoD that the backbone of the Army's air defence network for field formations is still formed by the vintage Bofors L 40/70 guns that should have been replaced decades ago. The guns, notoriously ineffective even during the 1965 war when they saw action, have only been "cosmetically modernized" since. The Army contended that the only manufacturer that meets its requirements is Rheinmetall, a firm banned earlier this month by the ministry for 10 years.

In fact, the Army had also red-flagged the issue of frequent blacklisting of firms that has crippled procurements and modernisation. An example that the Army gave to the ministry last year was the case of banning Rheinmetall, which owns 112 companies, one of which is the manufacturer of the main gun mounted on the Arjun Tank. The ban on the company, therefore, effectively stalls the entire program.

The Glaring Gaps
APFSDS: Anti-tank shell uses hardened sabot that discards itself on hitting armour, pushes in titanium projectile. With force levels under 10,000, Army told govt in August 2011 that war reserves had fallen below critical levels. 30,000 now being bought from Russia.

Artillery: All projects stalled because of blacklisting of firms. Even govt-govt order with US for M777 guns stuck as MoD does not want Army to change qualitative requirements.

Air Defence: Mainstay are Bofors L 40/70 guns bought over 50 years ago. Rheinmetall only manufacturer that meets replacement requirements, but govt banned it this month for 10 years.

Arjun Tank: Rheinmetall also manufacturer of tank's main gun. Ban cloud over entire programme.

 

[lcatejas]

All these problems are created by babu's lobby, corruption inside IA and ass#&% minister's...

 

[Kunal Biswas]

With force levels of this shell, which is the mainstay anti-tank ammunition of the Army and has seen service even in the 1971 war, coming down to below 10000 — a number hopelessly inadequate for the 3,000 odd tanks that are available at any time for combat — the Army officially conveyed to the government in August 2011 that its war reserves had fallen below critical levels.

The dip occurred as foreign orders were not placed because the ammunition was planned to be produced in India under a partnership with Israeli firm IMI. However, after dealings with the firm were put on hold in June 2009, the project got stalled.

When the only other source, a Russian entity, was approached to place and order for 60,000 rounds, the price quoted was almost 800 percent higher than usual. Only after the Army pursued the case, has an agreement been finally firmed up under which 30,000 rounds will be imported directly from Russia to meet immediate requirements while 60,000 will be produced in India.

Scary, With all those T-72 with outdated Rounds..

Air Defence: Last year, the Army chief told the MoD that the backbone of the Army's air defence network for field formations is still formed by the vintage Bofors L 40/70 guns that should have been replaced decades ago. The guns, notoriously ineffective even during the 1965 war when they saw action, have only been "cosmetically modernized" since. The Army contended that the only manufacturer that meets its requirements is Rheinmetall, a firm banned earlier this month by the ministry for 10 years.

He is dead true..

 

[sesha_maruthi27]

Very bad situation for INDIA and the enemies are waiting for this from a long time and we have given them a open chance to catch us red handed in all three directions and we are sitting ducks now..............

:Cry:

 

[panduranghari]

And I wonder how could children of Army officers pay twice the annual fee of a private dental college when I was once a student of one. Kickbacks and even more kickbacks.

 

[JAYRAM]

Army chief's letter to PM: General V K Singh exposes -----s in armour

TNN | Mar 29, 2012, 01.44AM IST

NEW DELHI: Army chief General V K Singh paints a grim picture of the operational capabilities of his 1.13-million strong force in his letter to the PM, grappling as it is with tanks running out of ammunition, obsolete air defence systems and lack of adequate weaponry for infantry and special forces battalions.

Asking the PM to "pass suitable directions to enhance the Army's preparedness", Gen Singh in his March 12 letter says the state of the major fighting arms is "indeed alarming" and indirectly blames the long-winded arms procurement process and the recalcitrant bureaucracy for it.

The letter points out the Army's tank regiments are "devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks", while the existing air defence systems cannot effectively protect against enemy air attacks since they are "97% obsolete".

Besides, there are "large scale voids" in essential weaponry as well as critical surveillance and night-fighting capabilities in the over 350 infantry and special forces' battalions. With two "inimical neighbours", such "critical deficiencies" severely erode the Army's preparedness, he says.

There is, however, nothing startling in these observations. As reported earlier, the Army had last year itself declared it would need around Rs 41,000 crore just to make up its existing "critical hollowness" in ammunition and equipment. The force will take several years to reach 100% operational capability.

Top MoD sources said it was surprising that Gen Singh wrote such a long letter to the PM at a time when the MoD was already undertaking a comprehensive review of Army's operational capabilities, primarily prompted by the Army chief's concerns.

The first meeting for this review was held on February 28, where defence minister A K Antony, defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and Gen Singh were among those present.

The second meeting was slated for March 21, but was postponed to April 2 because Gen Singh was absent.

"The Army chief's letter is factually wrong on some counts. It also suggests that an empowered group of officers must be setup to carry out emergency purchases, and private sector participation be stepped up," said a source.

In its 11th Plan (2007-2012) review, the Army had also pointed at huge operational gaps in fields ranging from artillery, aviation, air defence and night-fighting to ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles), PGMs (precision guided munitions) and specialized tank and rifle ammunition.

There has been a general slowdown in several military modernization projects, especially the ones connected to the Army. Navy and IAF, in turn, are better placed on their modernization paths.

Times View

So far, the spat between the army chief and the government was embarrassing and perhaps demoralizing the armed forces. But now the leak of a letter written by General V K Singh to the Prime Minister has a far more disturbing dimension to it. Whoever leaked the letter is making public what should be strictly confidential. A service chief raising shortcomings in the country's defence preparedness with the head of the government is one thing. But for this to be put in the public domain and thus expose the shortcomings to one and all, including interests inimical to India, is quite another thing. This unsavoury episode must be brought to a close. And the source of the leak must be detected and action taken.



Army chief's letter to PM: General V K Singh exposes -----s in armour - The Times of India

 

[JAYRAM]

Row over letter leak takes away attention from army chief's real concern

New Delhi, March 29, 2012 |


There has been outrage about the leak of a secret letter written by Army Chief General V.K. Singh to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, what has perhaps been lost in the din are several genuine concerns that Gen Singh raised about the battle readiness of the Indian Army.

What is most significant in the letter, written on March 12, is that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) has laid particular emphasis on the threat India faces from China and how slowly it might be rendered defenceless in the face of People's Liberation Army's (PLA's) aggression because of bureaucratic hurdles.

Even as China builds up its military strength, the Indian Army's presence across the Indo-China border has been weakening. And it is the army chief who has raised the red flag.

Indian Army's lack of preparedness as compared to PLA is what Gen Singh wrote about in his leaked letter to the prime minister. The Chinese threat is real and present, the army chief wrote. While China was unabashedly developing infrastructure in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, Indian Army's presence has been far from satisfactory.

Vital suggestions

The army chief has pushed for action on three major policy issues: facilitating land acquisition for developing roads so that the army can be effectively deployed on the Indo-China border; funds for developing strategically important railway lines so that troops and equipment can be rushed to forward areas if there is a war; and ensure that Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is given modern equipment and the powers to overcome needless bureaucratic hassles.

Singh said the army should have operational control over the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), a paramilitary force that has been guarding the Indo-China border since the 1962 debacle.

Gen Singh also said that while the prime minister was aware of the seriousness of Chinese threat, there has been no progress on his proposals.

The army chief's concerns about the eastern front might be genuine considering the provocation and aggression shown by Chinese troops there.

China adds to its military might, India going down

China has India looking over its shoulders. Gen Singh's assessment has laid the threat to India on the eastern front bare. And it seems his fears are not entirely unfounded. The letter says while China has been shoring up its defences, India's militarily power has been getting weaker.

The army chief says the Chinese threat is real and visible in all theatres. In his letter, Gen Singh points to the alarming fact about China racing ahead with increasing its military muscle while India sadly lags behind with its defence preparedness woefully inadequate.

India has a land force strength of 1.3 million while China boasts of a force of 2.3 million. The Indian Army's 568 battle tanks to China's staggering fleet of 2,800 should rightfully have the forces concerned. India has 20 attack helicopters to China's 16.

The number of infantry combat vehicles that India has stands at 1,105 while China has more than double of it, 2390. The strength of fighter aircraft in the Indian Air Force (IAF) is only 784 while that of China is a massive 1,669. India has just two Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACs) as compared to China's 14.

Both India and China are even when it comes to aircraft carriers with either side possessing one each. However Chinese naval strength is formidable boasting of 60 submarines to India's 15. Again, China possesses 78 destroyers/frigates while India has only 21.

On the other side, India has no intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) despite the fact that China has compiled 66.

China clearly outstrips India when it comes to pumping in the finances in its military. India's defence spending stood at $37.3 billion in 2010-2011 while China infused a staggering fortune of $89.8 billion.


Row over letter leak takes away attention from army chief's real concern : North News - India Today